The part of Ravitch's book that I found most interesting was chapter 23: The Early Years Count. The focus of the chapter is on the disadvantages some children face in our current society and how those disadvantages affect a child's ability to learn. This was a very interesting topic for me because I am involved with Jumpstart, a program aiming to close the achievement gap of students entering kindergarten. Through Jumpstart, we learn a lot about how to help the children improve, but not as much what causes some children to get so behind others. The issue with this program is that it only affects some children whose parents choose for them to be in it and those children are already at a better standing learning-wise because their parents have sent them to preschool. At present, only about half our nation's children attend preschool each year, for low income families, that means that less than half are likely to graduate high school and even less likely college, then find a high paying job. If preschool were to be made universal in the United States, then more children would be set up for success and improve our society as they grow into adulthood. I think that this opportunity would be great for not only the children, but the teachers too because if children are being held to an equal standard for going into kindergarten, they will all begin their education at similar levels and as they get older and schools combine, there will be less variation in skill levels and more chance of success.